Mergers, acquisitions, and an additional location. All of these factors come together to form a potentially chaotic situation. Although well intentioned, many business owners let profits slip through the cracks during this tumultuous time.

Some of the biggest challenges, particularly with acquisitions, come from a lack of preparation. In addition to monitoring a new team and completing paperwork, there are other detailed considerations that must be accounted for.

1. Integrate personnel and practices into a new location.

 Have an orientation for all new and returning employees at the new location as soon as possible. Give employees a chance to meet, mingle, and explore the space. By providing this foundation, employees can get back to focusing on work that much faster.

2.  Quickly add a new location to your business management solution to increase speed of change.

When it comes to acquisitions, time is of the essence. Your business continues to run amidst the hustle and bustle and there is greater likelihood that customer service quality can drop, important files can be misplaced, etc. Integrating an additional location into your business management solution makes the transition smoother.

3. Get key personnel on the same page right away.

Have a meeting with your team leads to make sure everyone is up to date on any procedural, staffing, or other pertinent changes. Do progress reviews for each department and have supervisors break out into brainstorming sessions on how they’ll move forward in their collaboration during this transition period. If you suspect friction between old and new staff be sure to openly address it and problem solve on the spot. Now is the time to make an orchestrated effort towards solidarity.

4. Evaluate staff.

Not all positions will still be necessary after the acquisition. There might be department or title overlap. You may even find yourself with teams that have competing purposes. It’s important to position this new organization for profitability sooner than later. Schedule an on-site training so employees can get better acquainted with pertinent tools.  

Now is the time to make uncomfortable staffing decisions, not later on down the road after it has become a problem. Spend some time analyzing who is vital to the new mission and who needs to be let go or replaced. Although it’s challenging, you need to consider thinking in terms of long term business success during this time.

5. Manage and explain workflow within this new system. 

As companies change so to do their procedures. Now that there are a lot more moving parts, it’s time to take stock of your internal processes. What no longer serves the company’s mission? Are there unnecessary steps lingering in day-to-day operations? Comb through each department’s systems to ensure everything serves a purpose and activities are run as efficiently as possible.

If you aren’t already using a business management solution like ASPEN, adopting one now before beginning a merger will save you time and help make the transition a lot smoother.